Recommendations for MM Phono ~ Tube or Solid State

Def check out Regas new MM cartridge

'Unique generator. Rega 3 point mounting system. Highly rigid lightweight PPS body. Handmade stereo cartridge. 100% recyclable packaging. Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects. Nd Magnet technology. Often used in Moving Coil designs (including our own) we believe the Nd3 is the first moving magnet to utilise a Neodymium (Nd) N55 magnet.'

I'm throwing in a vote for Barry Thornton's Austin Audio Black Swan MM/MC phono pre.  Unprepossessing, to say the least, little black box, all the dials you could ever want on the front, under $1800 and incredibly neutral and given to on-the-fly adjustment.  An audition may change your mind about a lot of things.  In my system it seems as invisible as I never thought possible, but if visual appeal for your friends' admiration is important, go ahead and spend more.  A lot more maybe, but likely better spent elsewhere.

On the Black Swan, the capacitor loading switch on the right (per the photo on the website) is labeled in uF (microfarads). That means if you select 0.22, for example, you are loading the cartridge with 220,000 picofarads (10 to the -12 Farads).  There is no way that would be advisable for any type of cartridge, so I assume the label of the control is just wrong OR that is not a control for phono load.  The capacitor load selector on the left makes sense for an MM type. Also, with all the gain options, it's too bad that 60db is the max phono gain for an MC, and I am kind of curious why so many load options for MM, but no 47K option, although 50K is close enough.